woods smith



IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE'.

JOHN WOODS SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD PAYSON,

OF SAME PLACE.

TRANSOM-LIFTER.

'SECIFICATI forming part of Letters Patent No. 4O,"263, dated March Q6, ISS;

Application tiled May 21, 1888;

To all whom; t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WOODS SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Transom-Lifters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tiansom-lifters, and more particularly to devices for automatically locking or holding the transom in different positions.

My invention consists, in connection with a transom-lifter and its operating or lifting rod, of a stationary eye-piece through which the lifting-rod passes and a revolving thumbpiece journaled on said eye-piece and carrying a projection, rim, or tooth adapted to engage the holding notches or recesses in the lifting-rod. The revolving thumb-piece is automatically thrown and held into engagement with the lifting-rod by a spring or weight. The lifting-rod is preferably provided with notches, which thevprojection on the revolving thumb-piece may enter; but the projection on the thumb-piece may simply have a frictional or wedging engagement with the lifting-rod, if desired, the lifting-rod being made smooth or comparatively smooth. In this case,however, a stronger spring should be employed to operate the thumb-piece.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specication, Figure l is a perspective view of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the locking-device on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3, of Fig. 2. Fig. 4l is a longitudinal section. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the guide or eye-piece. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the spring, and Fig. 7 shows a modification wherein a weight is employed as an equivalent for the spring to operate the revoluble thumb-piece.

In said drawings, A represents the doorjanib; A the transom; B, the bracket or arm secured thereto; B', the connecting-rod, and B2 the guides for the lifting-rod C. All these parts f are or may be of any ordinary or desired construction, and the same are well known to those skilled in the art. The lifting-rod C is or preferably is provided with a series of notches or recesses, c, with which the locking device may engage.

1 D is the stationary eye-piece or guide,- the base-flange d of which is secured by screws d or other suitable means to the door-casing 5 5 A. The eye-piece D is round and constitutes the journal or stud upon which the revolving thumb-piece F turns. The lifting-rod C passes through the opening or eye d2 in the j piece D. The revolving thumb-piece is prefer- 6o ably made in the form of a ring or sleeve itting over or upon the stud or eye-piece D, and it is furnished with a projection, f, adapted to engage the lifting-rod and hold it in any desired position. If the lifting-rod is provided with notches or recesses, this projection f is or should be adapted to enter such notches or recesses. If, however, the lifting-rod has no such recesses, the projection f may press directly against the smooth 7o surface of the lifting-rod, the projection being made somewhat inclined or wedging, so

as to hold the lifting-rod in position firmly by frictional Contact.

A spring, g, or other equivalent device serves to turn the thumb-piece automatically and to hold its projection f in engagement with the lifting-rod. A coil-spring may be f preferably employed, as shown in the drawings, and in such case the eye-piece D and 8o the thumb-piece F are furnished With an annular groove or recess, g', between them for the coil-spring to iit in. This annular groove or channel is preferably out in the stud or eye-.piece D. One end of the coil-spring,- it will be understood, is secured to the eye-piece D and the other end tothe thumb-piece F, the sleeve F being provided with a notch or recess, f2, for the end of the spring to fit in.

The sleeve of the thumb-piece F is provided 9o with two opposite openings, f3 f4, preferably oblong slots, for the lifting-rod to pass through and at the same time permit the thumb-piece to revolve on the eye-piece D, so as to lock and unlock the lifting-rod. The oblong slots 3 f4 are formed in the sleeve of the thumbpiece with their inner edges cut away sufficiently at one end to allow of the free passage of the lifting-rod therethrough, and thereby leave a projecting edge, f, at one end of one of roo the slots to take into the notches c of the lifting-rod, and thus positively lock the same, or, in the absence of such notches, to hold the lifting-rod from movement by frictional contact therewith. The oblong slot]4 is of the same width throughout its entire length, the width of the slot slightly exceeding the diameter of the lifting-rod, so that the rod will slide readily. The oblong slotfis narrowed at one end by the projection f, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. The series of recesses c in the lifting-rod are preferably cut on the inner or under side thereof, as thus they are out of sight and do not injure the smooth appearance oi' the rod, and also because the holding projection thereon into engagenflent with the projection fof the thumb-piece will, when it enters the same, have no tendency to be forced out of engagement by the Weight ot' the transom on the lifting-rod, so that a very slight and easy spring will effectively answer the purpose as well a stronger one. The recesses c in the lifting-rod may, however, be diierently located 011 the lifting-rod, or entirely omitted, without departing from my invention in its broader aspect.

It will be observed that the holding projectionfon the sleeve oi" the thumb-piece-in fact, as shown in the drawings-is simply a portion of the wall or rim of the sleeve F, formed by one of the oblong slots, f3, in the sleeve portion oi the thumb-piece. The holding projection may, however, be constructed in any suitable or equivalent manner.

To limit the extent to which the thumbpiece F may be turned, I provide the same with a projectiomf, at its lower end, which lits in about a quadrant recess, cl3, on the baselian ge of the eye-piece D, This serves to prevent the marginal ends of the oblong' slots f3 f4 striking against the surface of the liftingrod7 which might tend to scrape and bind on the rodA and mar the polished surface thereof. lVhere the end walls of the oblong slots fi ft are intended to engage the lifting-rod, and thus serve as the holding projection j', it will of course be understood that the stop projection f5 should be omitted.

The axis of the revolving sleeve oil the thumb piece F is preferably arranged as shown in the drawings-that is to say, at right angles to the plane of the door-casing-as this I deem to be the best way now known to me of practicing my invention; but it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the axis of the sleeve of the revoluble thumb-piece may be differently arranged.

The thi eliness of the eye-piece D is or should be, as indicated in Fig. 4, greater than the width of the notches or .recesses e in the liftingrod, so that said rod may slide freely without catching.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7 a weight, g2, is used as an equivalent for the spring g to throw the revolving thumb-piece or the lifting-rod or the recesses therein.

l claiml. In a transom-litter, the combination oi the transom and its lifting-rod with a stationary eye-piece for the lifting-rod to pass through, and a revolving thumb-piece journaled on said eye-piece and provided with a projection adapted to engage the lifting-rod and hold it in position, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the lifting-rod (l, having recesses c, and eye-piece l), having a basetiange, (Z, provided with a recess, d, with the revoluble thumb-piece F, provided with a sleeve having oblong slots fifi, the projecting edges fwhereof are adapted to engage the recesses of the lifting-rod, and provided also with a stop, f5, to engage the recess di oi' the base-flange, substantially as and :t'or the purpose set forth.

3. In a transom-lifter, the combination oi' a notched lifting-rod with a stationary eye-piece for the lifting-rod to pass through, a revolving thumb-piece swiveled on said eye-piece and carrying a proj eetion adapted. to engage the notches in said lifting-rod, and a spring or its equivalent for throwing it into such engagement, suliistantially as specified.

JOHN NVOODS SMITH.

Witnesses:

lV. F. MAIN, J. R. PAvsoN. 

